Rao Surampalli
International leadership and development of innovative/sustainable environmental technologies for social good and global sustainability
Inducted 2022
Dr. Rao Y. Surampalli’s decades-long successful career continues to provide leadership on technology innovations for social good and global sustainability throughout the world. He began his Iowa State adventure with his Ph.D. in civil engineering, graduating in 1985.
Throughout his career, Surampalli has used innovative and sustainable environmental technologies for recovery and reuse of resource and energy, remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater, emerging contaminants removal in wastewater treatment, provided technical assistance and built technical capacities in 25 countries across the six continents, and has played a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. He is dedicated to the development of a more sustainable society.
Surampalli is also a prolific writer with over 800 referred publications to his name. He is also an editor in chief of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journal Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste, and editor in chief of Nanotechnology for Environmental Engineering.
He currently serves as president and CEO of the Global Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability and is a member of International Experts on Earth System Preservation. His sustainability efforts and innovations have earned him over 30 national awards/honors, including the highest honor of the American Society of Civil Engineers as an Elected Distinguished Member, election as a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Construction (NAC), and the highest Iowa State College of Engineering award in 2021— the Anson Marston Medal.